Thursday, August 11, 2016

Hard Magic

by Larry Correia

There's a lot going on in this first installment of the Grimnoir series! For starters, it is a semi-historical alternate universe of the 1930's; a place where various types of magic runs through a special segment of the population, some who use it for good and others for evil. Jake Sullivan, an ex-war hero and ex-con, joins forces with Hoover and the FBI to hunt down some of these bad guys in order to get an early release. He teams up with several other "specials," in particular a teen from Oklahoma who seems to have more than one kind of magic, something almost unheard of. There are multiple fighting, shoot 'em up scenes, and an ending that doesn't quite leave you satisfied... because of course there are another two books (and perhaps more)?

Correia has done a good job of making a believable world with interesting characters and a unique story. There are a lot of pages, but it's a relatively fast read. Hard Magic is kind of fantasy, noir, historical and action/adventure wrapped up in one tale. I think this book would appeal to a variety of readers, it's pretty fun.